DIRECT TO CONSUMERS
INTRODUCTION:
Direct to consumers (D2C) is a sales strategy, where the producer/manufacturer sells products directly to the end consumers without any intermediates. This is also done via several e-commerce stores. The number of organizations that independently manufactured and distributed their products during the pandemic. The brand manages the entire process from manufacturing, marketing, and shipping to consumers. For D2C companies, the primary point of engagement with customers is using their websites, apps, and social media environments. The website provides complete detail about the product and also serves the online transaction capabilities. By eliminating intermediaries from the sales journey, a product can achieve reduced cost and provide a seamless brand experience. Currently, D2C companies have reached a high level of achievement. It comes from being able to pay keen attention to the customer’s preferences and expectations in a more personalized and authentic way. In D2C companies, the brands are effective at deploying disruptive methods that are winning the loyalty of customers.
RISE OF DIRECT TO CONSUMERS :
In the past few years, the D2C method has grown in tandem with the rise of e-commerce. A new generation of disruptive startups is forcing traditional brands to rethink how they build, market, and sell products. Covid also gave a significant boost to this type of marketing platform, at a time when offline retailers were struggling. D2C is not a new concept. But now it has been growing rapidly with a high increasing rate after several years. D2C has now become a new channel to directly reach customers, showcase curated offerings, and also serve unmet needs and expectations. The only goal of D2C is to lower the product price by eliminating the retailers and sales commissions. The change in the D2C rate is being driven by women shoppers. Most of the women entering the workforce, there also need to take the shopping sector. Over the legacy brand product, women are 37% more likely to buy a new age D2C product. Especially from new categories such as Femtech and Fem hygiene, women are 70% more likely to buy these D2C personal care products. Men are 45% more likely to buy D2C brands concerning snacks. The female to male shopping ratio at such D2C companies is approximately 35:65.
Over the past two to three years, the D2C methodology has been growing in popularity because it allows producers or manufacturers to have 100% control over :
⦁ First-party data and analytics.
⦁ Pricing flexibility.
⦁ How they communicate, market, and build a relationship with consumers.
⦁ Orders are placed for their products.
⦁ How do they deliver value to their customers?
STRATEGIES FOR D2C MARKETING:
The strategies which are used in the D2C brands can leverage this organization to consistently build their customer relationships directly. D2C marketing involves targeting messages to specific people who are more likely to buy a product being offered.
1. LEAD NURTURING:
In several marketing techniques Lead nurturing and Lead generation are excellent for creating new prospects and sales. Lead nurturing is the process of maintaining and developing relationships with customers. It focuses the communication and marketing efforts by providing the information they need and ushering it in until they are ready to purchase.
The strategies which are followed to make a customer sign up or lead customers are
⦁ To provide a great offer or discount
⦁ To predict the customer’s expectations
LEAD GENERATION :
Lead generation is the process of gaining interest in a product or service to increase future sales. It is a crucial part of the sales and marketing process in many organizations.
In lead nurturing techniques few strategies are followed, they are
⦁ Targeted content: Create intriguing, entertaining, and delightful content to target consumers so you can find out the most qualified leads.
⦁ Multi-channel lead nurturing: Reach and nurture your audience’s mind about the qualities of the product where they are on multiple channels rather than mailing.
⦁ Multiple touches: It is very difficult to purchase at first touch. So boost touch with a mix of content types and different channels to increase your communication and engagement among target consumers.
⦁ Timely FollowUps: Follow up with leads promptly is the best way to convert inbound leads into qualified sales opportunities.
⦁ Personalized emails: In email marketing, personalized emails tend to promote consumer retention.
⦁ Lead scoring: Implement a lead scoring method used to predict which lead you should follow up your time on.
2. EMAIL MARKETING:
Email marketing is an old and powerful marketing channel, an act of sharing promotional messages typically to a group of people. It involves using email to share Business advertisements, solicit sales, donations, etc. Implementing an email nurturing sequence can build a relationship with your consumers at every stage and the nurtured members are ushered to make buying decisions. To focus on the critical elements that will make your email marketing campaign successful. They are
⦁ A clean and updated marketing list.
⦁ Great visual and design elements.
⦁ A lot of data on your contacts.
⦁ To keep the contact consistent and regular.
3. INFLUENCER MARKETING AND INGRAINED CONTENT :
Client trust is one of the essential features of online shopping. When guests buy online, they can not touch the product physically. So the online marketers need to satisfy the guests and take responsibility for the brand’s quality leads to make a buying decision. By investing in ingrained content, the marketers ensure client trust. Another important aspect in Direct to consumer( D2C) marketing strategy is influencer marketing. It can be used to make your brand and reach out to more customers. currently, influencer marketing is the mainstream of online marketing. Along with other types of online marketing, there are hundreds of articles explaining the complications of influencer marketing. Because the influencer marketing hub is now an established website.
4. SEO OPTIMIZATION :
Search Engine Optimization is the process of improving the quality of your site to increase its visibility when consumers search for a product related to yours in search engines like google, bing, and so on. In D2C, SEO strategy plays a major role. So you must invest in an SEO strategy. It is a long-term and long-haul plan that helps you to reach expandable growth like planting a seed for what will later reap the long-term, continuous reward.
BENEFITS OF THE D2C MODEL :
D2C brands can create a direct relationship with customers and also benefit both manufacturers and consumers.
⦁ High consumer lifetime value
⦁ Better relationship with the customer
⦁ Customers prefer direct access to manufacturer
⦁ Control over messaging, Brand Data, and Reputation
⦁ Omnichannel commerce
⦁ More opportunities to innovate
⦁ Gain higher margins
⦁ Expanded market opportunities
⦁ Stronger brand loyalty
⦁ HIGHER CONSUMER LIFETIME VALUE :
Consumer Lifetime Value is one of the business metrics that measure how valuable a customer is to your organization and also how much a business can plan to earn from the average customer for a relationship with your brand. A good profit earned by the organization is a reflection of high CLV and also it is a sign of healthy business.
For example, if you are selling a product and using the common retailer method, You will be forced to sell the product at a lower price. So that the retailer will have to mark it up again and resell them to customers. But in D2C sales, you were to sell the product directly to the customer. So you have control over the margins, thus driving CLV.
⦁ BETTER RELATIONSHIP WITH CUSTOMERS :
You should maintain a better relationship with your customers if you want to retain them. To maintain a good relationship, the manufacturer wants to know the customer’s needs and expectations.
Often you contact your customers directly with your brand during their buyer journey. In case you are selling your products through a retailer or salesperson, these types of interactions are complicated.
Through direct contact with customers, you gain insight into all the information about your buyer such as name, location, Purchasing history, and also have more opportunities for personalization which leads to sales and you want to know about your customer’s shopping habits and preferences.
⦁ CUSTOMER PREFERS DIRECT ACCESS TO MANUFACTURER :
Because of the internet, the manufacturers are easily accessible to individual consumers to deal with them. Consumers prefer purchasing directly from the manufacturer because they want to inform their needs directly to the manufacturers through an eCommerce website. It is also beneficial for manufacturers to fulfill their consumers’ needs for their satisfaction.
⦁ CONTROL OVER MESSAGING, BRAND DATA, AND REPUTATION :
To control the pricing of the product, customer data, messaging, product, and brand reputation to adopt the D2C method.
The power of the manufacturer in the traditional retail model is limited, manufacturers don’t even have complete control over pricing the product once the brand is sold to retailers.
Once the product hits the retailers, the manufacturer does not influence the sale. All the power of sales and pricing is in the hands of retailers and wholesalers.
⦁ OMNICHANNEL COMMERCE :
Omnichannel commerce is a multichannel approach to sales and marketing that aims to provide a consolidated customer experience, regardless of where the customers are shopping.
Nowadays, omnichannel commerce is fast becoming the norm that people expect wherever they want to go. Your customers are accessed by you at every touchpoint with your brand during the sales process to create a unified customer experience.
In the traditional retail model, the manufacturer’s flexibility is limited by creating a wall between the customers and manufacturers. It is very hard to interact with the consumer about their needs and expectations naturally.
⦁ MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO INNOVATE :
Because of Direct to consumers sales, the manufacturer collects data about the product based on their customer’s needs, produces what they sell, and adds features based on customer reviews. To improve the quality of the brand by gathering reviews about the product which is already sold. It helps to add features to the product and also leads to the innovation of new products, which are based on their needs.
⦁ GAIN HIGHER MARGINS :
By lowering the price of the product over retail shops, manufacturers achieve higher profit by eliminating the middleman from the sales process.
When using the traditional retailer model, the retailers who sell the product only make a profit on the markup from cost to gross sale. D2C allows you to sell the product at the same price as the retailer.
⦁ EXPANDED MARKET OPPORTUNITIES :
Manufacturers are no longer restricted when selling directly to customers. They can sell anywhere globally by just selling to the right customer in the right market.
Adopting a D2C strategy is beneficial from a financial and operational standpoint.
⦁ STRONGER BRAND LOYALTY :
Manufacturers have more responsibility in terms of providing better products and services to their customers and support with D2C.
To establish a strong relationship and drive retention through targeted marketing campaigns by exploiting their connections with consumers.
CONCLUSION :
Moreover, D2C marketing is a multichannel business process, in which the path to D2C provides more chances globally than other channels. It has helped to create valuable insights for the brand to measure their operations by managing their organization efficiently. It also managed to predict and build the new customer manufacturer relationship with the brands.
This model is not suitable for everyone, which means that the industry has lower barriers to entry. It doesn’t mean that everyone can approach this model. It would be a major mistake to jump into it without any knowledge of sales, marketing, operation, and data analysis skills.